The Doppelgänger
by CrazyDiceGuy
Summary: Remember that yellow version of Shadow from the 2 player mode of Shadow the Hedgehog? No? Well, he's back and seemingly out for blood, but who or what dose he really want? (This is a seaqule to Maria's Returne)
1. The Doppelgänger

**The Doppelgänger**

A familiar voice rang out across the city in an unfamiliar laugh. It was Shadow, anyone in Capital City could have told you that, but there was a malice in his voice I'd never heard before. There were explosions coming from the square. I turned and ran back to Guardian Mountain, unwilling to engage without the rest of my team. I'd only been at G.U.N. a few weeks, but I knew better than to fight without them. My hair blew behind me as I ran, and it started to rain. The water ran off my body and clothes, so I was dry when I got to HQ. I was lost in thought, sub-consciously navigating the labyrinth that was the interior of Guardian Mountain. That laugh. Something was wrong. I'd never heard so much malice in Shadow's voice before. "There's no way it was him" I told myself, urging my self to run faster.

I almost ran into Rouge, again. This time she jumped and I went into a slide. The G.U.N. training was paying off. She landed an I span as I got to my feet, "You need to be more focused, Maria" she told me as we fell into an embrace. Laughing, we broke the hug and I almost forgot what I was there for. I grabbed Rouge's hand and started dragging her towards Commander Tower's office. "Where are we going?" she asked me.

"Someone's attacking the city" I told her.

"What!? Who?" she asked.

We stopped. I looked into her eyes, and they widened. She seemed to understand. We broke into a run towards the Commander office.

The command centre was buzzing with activity as usual. Reports we coming in from the city of the attack just as Maria and Rouge burst through the door. "Commander," they said in unison. He turned.

"What is it?"

"The city, it's under attack!" Maria explained.

"From whom?"

"We don't know, sir." said one of the officers, "However, the assailant dose seem to posses similar chaos power to agent Shadow." Rouge and I glanced at each other.

"W-Where is agent Shadow?" I asked.

Something exploded before I got an answer. We rushed down to the hanger, already hearing the gunfire from the guards. The hanger door was scattered across the floor, several shards were stuck in the walls and hulls of the vehicles. Soldiers were firing at a figure in the smoke. He was clearly a male hedgehog; short, with six unmistakable spines on the back of his head. He walked forward, shrugging of the gunfire as if it were rain. Fire sone through the smoke, and something els exploded, a vehicle of some sort, clearing the smoke. "No," I gasped.

"It can't be!" one of Soldiers dropped his gun, turning to run. The figure laughed, the cold, heartless laugh from before. So unmistakably Shadow, yet so unfamiliar, so dark. There was a flash or light and the running soldier dropped dead.

"Coward," spat Shadow.

"Agent Shadow, stand down," the sergeant ordered, his voice clearly full of fear, but he help his nerve. Shadow smiled.

"Make me." he said.

"Prepare for annihilation," an electronic voice commanded from behind us. We turned to see the hangers rear door sliding open. Heavy, metallic footsteps echoed through the hanger. Omega walked in, arms raised and weapons loaded. "Stand down, or be destroyed."

"You think you can defeat me, you're as pathetic as the soldiers" Shadow mocked.

"Permission to fire?" Omega requested.

The sergeant started to answer, "Omega, open-"

"Permission denied, Omega" Shadows voice came from behind us. Soldiers lowered the weapons in confusion, looking around wildly. I turned, and tapped Rouge's shoulder, drawing her attention to the hedgehog in the hall way behind the hanger. It was Shadow.

"Thats not possible," Rouge muttered in disbelief.

The Shadows squared off. "Who are you, and what do you want?" the new Shadow asked. The soldier were just starring, guns on the floor, in utter confusion. Even Omega had lowered his weapons. Rouge looked on on disbelief, unable to for coherent words. She just repeatedly opened and closed her mouth. I rushed forward, standing next to the Shadow who had emerged from the hall. I was sure this was the real Shadow, and now I knew this, I noticed something about the other Shadow. His eyes were yellow, not bright yellow, but a dark, evil yellow. He laughed. "They call me Shadow. I am the 1,000th version of the ultimate life form. I was created on the ARK moon colony, by professor Gerald Kintobor, as a means to destroy the alien threat to Moebius."

"Moebius, isn't that the zone where Scourge come from?" Rouge asked taking her place on the other side of Shadow.

"The green king? HA! He's a fool, sent me here in exile after I went insane from over exposure to the Anarchy Beryl. He banished me because he feared me!" Anti-Shadow shouted, "I was the only thing standing between him and the throne, so he sent me here" He growled in anger, his red streaks gradually changing colour to mach his eyes.

"Wow, he wasn't kidding when he insane," Rouge muttered.

"So, why are you attacking us?" I asked him.

"Because I need to get back to Moebius and show that fool Scourge who's boss." He snarled. Then he regained his composure, and his streaks faded back to red. "This is going to get confusing quickly, isn't it?" He said.

"What are you talking about?" Shadow demanded.

"You and me. Me and you. We look nearly identical, so we can't both have the same name, call me 1000."

"All right, 1000," I said, "I'm afraid we can't help you, the cosmic interstate has been locked down. Inter-zone travel is imposable.".

"I'm sorry, you appear to have misunderstood me," he said, "I'm not asking your permission."

A wave of energy spread out from 1000 and threw us all back against the wall. I hit my head and slumped down the wall. The last thing I remember seeing was 1000's streaks turning yellow again.


	2. Shadows of the Past

**Shadows of the Past**

I woke first. Maria and Rouge were still out cold, but I didn't have time to wake them. I stood snakily, surveying the destruction 1000 had caused. The floor was scorched, the hanger door destroyed, vehicles burned and soldiers groaned. Some tried to get up, but promptly fell down again. The soldier 1000 had killed lay there, face down on the concrete, his body slowly turning to dust. My anger grew. I clenched my fists and ran off after him.

The rear hallway lead deep into the heart of Guardian Mountain. There were only two things of value to 1000 down there, the generator room, and Hope's lab, and I could guess which one he was after. I followed his trail of destruction into the centre of the bace. Scorch marks covered the steel walls and unconscious soldiers and destroyed mechs were scattered throughout the complex. As I went on, it became clear that 1000 had absolutely no idea where he was going. Every door I passed had been broken down and the room searched, there occupants slumped against the back wall. "He works fast," I muttered to myself as I ran past a branching corridor with every door on it broken and every room ransacked.

When I reached Hope's lab, 1000 was already there. A desks worth of paper work covered the scorched floor, the desk itself on it's side against the back wall. The teleporter hummed quietly in the corner. I was surprised to see Hope was actually conscious, though se was pinned against the wall. 1000 had her by the neck of her shirt, suspending her a few inches off the ground.

"Activate the machine!" He demanded.

"I-I can't," Hope stuttered, "The zone-breaching platform was never d-designed for a jump that big! It-it can only just manage to breach the barriers into pocket zones!"

"Then make it work!", he pulled he back and slammed her against the wall.

"Put her down!" I shouted, stepping into the room.

He let go of her and she slid down the wall onto her knees. "Well well well," he said, turning to face me, "If it isn't Shadow the Hedgehog."

Hope scrambled to her feet and ran over to me. "You herd her," I told him, "the machine can't help you."

He laughed, slowly at first, but growing into an insane cackle, "You think that will stop me?" he asked, "You underestimate my power. You think the zones to be all there is, a finite number of realities, each slightly different from the next. You couldn't be more wrong." He laughed again, then winced and dropped onto one knee, "I have liquid Anarchy Beryl running though my veins," he began to stand, "I am pure power. I have travelled beyond this universe; seen things you could not begin to imagine," shouting now, "All from the power of my own body! I just-" he faltered, took a deep breath through his nose, and said cooly, "I just need the machine to make sure I get to the right zone."

I stared at him, "Why do you need the machine?" I asked him, "If you have that much power, why the machine?"

He scowled at me, as if I'd offended him, then his gaze relaxed. That unnerved me, and I'm never unnerved. "The Anarchy Force is, well, chaotic," he said calmly, "I can't travel precisely. The device can, so I can use it set co-ordinates and my power to actually make the journey."

Maria and Rouge ran up behind me, "What happened here?" Rouge asked.

"Hope, are you ok?" Maria put a hand on Hope's shoulder. She nodded.

"All right 1000, give it up, you can't take us all on." I said with confidence.

He laughed that insane laugh, "I don't need to."

"What do you...?" I started, but he raised his hand and shot a beam of blue energy at me. I raised my arm to block, and the beam hit my inhibitor ring, reflecting back at 1000. It hit him square on the forehead. Pulses of blue energy, amplified by the ring, washed over all five of us and we were transported out of guardian mountain.

All I could see was blue light, swirling around me. I felt Maria grab my right hand and Rouge throw her arms around my neck. They felt as though they were being pushed away from me, though if they were, I couldn't feel the force behind it. Suddenly the wave of light passed and I could see again. 1000 and I stood facing off In a cold steel corridor that curved so I couldn't see the far end. One wall seemed to be made of glass, but was coved with a metal shutter from the outside.

"That," said 1000, "was not supposed to happen."

I felt Rouge and Maria let go of me And saw that Maria hand Hope's hand firmly grasped in her own. "What have you done?" I asked, partly from anger at being attacked and partly from curiosity; I'd never seen an attack like this.

"I attempted to use a mind attack on you, to temporarily imprison you within your darkest memory. But it appears there Was some sort of feedback..." He trailed off.

"What are you talking about? Where are we?" I demanded.

An explosion shook the corridor, screams and shouts of people echoing off the metal walls, we turned to look in the direction of the blast. Overlanders in labcoats were running towards us, smoke slowly following them down the corridor. 1000 was starting to laugh behind us. Maria scowled at him over her shoulder, "What?", she demanded.

He smirked, "I know where, or rather, when we are,".

I turned to face him, "What are you talking about?".

"This is when...", another explosion cut him off. More shouting and running Overlanders came from the end of the corridor. This time, flashes of yellow and red light shone through the smoke. A young Mobian girl came running through the smoke and my eyes widened in surprise. She looked just like Maria. 1000 was practically chocking with laughter now.

The we found out why...


End file.
